Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Pennsylvanians ask feds to help disarm intimidating small-town militia — RT USA
You may have read about Mark Kessler, the police chief of Gilberton, PA, who made international news when he was suspended by the city council for right-wing, gun-nut, anti-government ranting on YouTube [follow the link to the story and you will find one of his crazy videos--I'm not linking to it]. Well, here's chapter two: He has his own militia, called the Constitution Security Force, and they are making life...interesting for the good people of Gilberton: "Although Gilberton only holds around 700 citizens, nearly 900 people have already signed their names to a petition asking the Pennsylvania National Guard to come and disarm Kessler 'and his thugs.'”

This is from RT:

Tensions between Kessler and his critics have been high since before the videos began surfacing, but matters were only made worse last Wednesday when the chief asked his Constitution Security Force to surround the town meeting where his suspension was to be discussed. “When it came time to open the small borough building for the public meeting, these armed men blocked the doors and prevented people from going inside,” local reporter John Luciew wrote from the hearing. “I have been organizing for four decades. I have faced Klansmen in Kentucky, Ustase in Bosnia and police indiscriminately beating demonstrators in Italy. [Wednesday] night in Gilberton was more frightening than any of those situations,” Michael Morril of Keystone Progress told Huffington Post. In all, around 100 members of the CSF — outfitted with AR-15 assault rifles — are said to have descended on the scene last Wednesday. Inside the borough hall, the handful of residents lucky enough to bypass Kessler’s security detail spoke of the chief’s intimidation tactics — and a petition signed by 20,000 people demanding Kessler’s termination was delivered to the council.

About Me

I am a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Nothing contained in this blog represents the opinions of UIC or John Marshall, and nothing you see here is legal advice. You can reach me at ecmlaw@gmail.com